No End To Big Labor’s Hunger For Workers’ Money

Toxic corruption of Union Bosses continues to corrode Chicago pension funds as Big Labor siphons funds into its own pockets. The state teacher pension is the latest victim of this attack.

Two Chicago union lobbyists chalk up a day of substitute teaching to qualifying for a full state teacher pension. The City of Chicago granted these lobbyists, both of whom were union employees, state teacher pensions after they passed “crony qualifications” by substitute teaching for one day, according to a Tribune/WGN-TV investigation.

According to an article in The Chicago Tribune, “Steven Preckwinkle, the political director for the Illinois Federation of Teachers, and fellow union lobbyist David Piccioli were the only people who took advantage of a small window opened by lawmakers a few months earlier. The legislation enabled union officials to get into the state teachers’ pension fund and count their previous years as union employees after quickly obtaining teaching certificates and working in a classroom. They just had to do it before the bill was signed into law.”

Although Preckwinkle’s salary fluctuates, he stands to receive more than $108,000 a year. Both men will receive more than a million dollars from the fledgling pension fund, risking countless other pensions for hard-working educators in the state.

The Chicago Tribune says, “By getting in the day of substitute teaching, Preckwinkle was able to claim 16.4 years of prior union service toward his teacher pension. For Piccioli, the numbers are smaller. He claimed nearly a decade of prior experience with the union. In addition, both may count the nearly five years they’ve been union employees since the law took effect, and they also can claim all future work at the teachers union as service toward their Teachers’ Retirement System pension.”

This is another case of union bosses crossing the line and undermining hard working Americans. Click here to read the full story.